H.R. Giger Is Dead, Long Live H.R. Giger

Sci-fi’s lost one of the greats: H.R. Giger has passed away at the age of 74.

The legendary artist, famed for his “biomechanical” style that provided the art world with nightmare fuel for decades, has his work in museums all over the world… but for sci-fi fans, his greatest achievement can be found on our DVD shelves. Giger was instrumental in creating the visual aesthetic of Alien; we can thank him for the Space Jockey, the Derelict, and of course for the pants-crappingly terrifying Alien itself. He shared in the film’s 1980 Visual Effects Oscar, which is only right, because God damn:

He also worked on director Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s doomed Dune adaptation; Dune-atics can catch him in Jodorowsky’s Dune, currently playing in limited release, a documentary focusing on the never-made epic by the Chilean-French director. It may be the last piece of media he’s featured in. The artist also left his mark on the music world, designing album covers for Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Danzig; and more. Giger passed away in Zurich following injuries sustained from falling down a flight of stairs.